Stone, Roses

Of course there are problems of decadence, but those include the people who would halt or reverse the necessarily State-assisted economic development of others while themselves enjoying independent incomes (not least from what can only ever be a highly socialised agricultural sector), or academic or quasi-academic sinecures, or both.

On The Moral Maze last night, Tim Stanley made the important point that material progress had in  large part been moral progress. No longer wanting for bread, we no longer hang people for stealing it because they have no other way of feeding their children.

Tim specifically made the point about denying Bangladesh the flood defences that were enjoyed by the Netherlands. All in all, on this occasion, he sounded far more like an Old Lefty than Giles Fraser did. I hate to say this, Giles, but the other side last night had more than a touch of "We asked for bread, but you gave us a stone" about it. 

Not that bread is enough, of course. "Yes, it is bread we fight for, but we fight for roses, too." The thing is that that one is reversible. Yes, it is roses we fight for. But we fight for bread, too. And, necessarily, for bread first.

Another hung Parliament is coming, and our people need to hold the balance of power in it. My crowdfunding page is here, or email davidaslindsay@hotmail.com for other options. That address accepts PayPal.